The stalemate between Western Chu and the Western Army of the Great Ming Expedition at Hulukou has lasted for nearly two months. After the defeat of the Northern Zhou army in Yinyang City, the Western Chu military received an order to withdraw to the east of Hengduan Mountain, but a letter of state from the capital of the Northern Zhou Dynasty made the Western Chu Emperor Xiao Bieli dispel the idea of withdrawing the army.

This letter of state is very simple, there is only one sentence, "Tang Tang, the daughter of Tang Buyi and the apprentice of the corpse demon in the Western Regions, was killed by Yinyang Zhao Lanjiang, if the public withdraws the army, it is easy to teach Tang not to know." For this reason, Xiao Bieli convened a meeting of the emperor overnight, and after discussion, it was decided to continue to increase troops to Hengduan Mountain.

Tang Buyi, also known as Tang Maniac.

A person is called a madman, either he has something extraordinary, or he has some obsessions, but Tang is not easy to be called a Tang madman, that is only because he is a madman, and he has been crazy for nearly twenty years.

Twenty years ago, Tang Buyi was as famous as Chu Maddao, and was called "Tang Chu", and he was also the first general of Chu State, and now more than half of the generals of the Chu army were once his subordinates.

At that time, the political situation of Chu was unstable, and there was a perennial war between nomadic tribes and emerging nobles, and the Chu State would fall into a split trend, helping the emperor to fight in the south and the north, and it was this Tang madman who unified the Great Chu. When the political situation was stable, this thirty-year-old famous general of the famous generation went crazy because of a woman.

Chu Bieli played an extremely disgraceful role in this matter. After Tang Buyi went crazy, he killed more than 30 members of the Tang family, and then broke away from the palace with a sword, slaughtering all the people who left the palace. This person also became a nightmare for Chu Bei's head, and later Tang Buyi disappeared, and it is said that he went to the Northern Zhou Dynasty.

Now, the Northern Zhou threatens Chu Bieli in the name of Tang Buyi, Chu Ritian is dead, and in the entire Western Chu, no one can stop Tang Buyi's sword, and Chu Bieli has no other way than to submit. However, the state of Chu knew very well that after the defeat of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, they would not be able to support themselves and would inevitably not be able to get any benefits, so they had always maintained restraint in the matter of Hulukou.

Hulukou, located at the southwest junction of Daming and Chu, south of Hengduan Mountain, is also the southern trade route between the two countries, the terrain here is complex, the shape is like a gourd, so it is called Hulukou.

In the territory of the Ming Dynasty, Hulukou is also known as the West Eleven Guard. For decades, the Western Army was stationed here, cultivating land during agricultural time and training soldiers in leisure time, and over time, it became a guard post with military households as the majority. Many caravans from Yinyang to Western Chu also passed through here, and after paying a part of the tax, they continuously transported tea and silk from the Central Plains to Western Chu, and also brought back sheepskins, spices, precious stones, etc. from Western Chu.

However, since the end of last year, after the border trade friction, Hulukou has entered a state of combat readiness, and the caravan has long disappeared on the road. On the streets, there are patrolling soldiers of the Western Army, and the people from other places have long since evacuated, and only some of the family members of the army, either farming or doing business, are still holding on.

The two countries of Ming and Chu, with the waist of the gourd mouth as the boundary, the west is the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and the east is the territory of the Chu State, the soldiers on both sides are stationed, less than 500 steps apart, if at night, the Ming army of the garrison, you can even hear the sound of the West Chu military drinking and having fun.

For half a year, Western Chu continued to send troops to provoke, but the Western Army maintained restraint and did not break out into a large-scale war until the news of the Yinyang victory came, and the provocation of the Western Chu Army was somewhat restrained.

Xiao Jinyan arrived at Hulukou, and it had been more than half a month.

In the past half a month, he searched almost all the streets and alleys of Hulukou, whether it was the garrison officers and soldiers or ordinary people, but he never did

There is news of Yuwenshuang.

In the battle of Zhaoyao Mountain, Yuwen Tianlu rebelled and was killed by Dengwen Academy, Emperor Zhu Liye was furious, revoked the title of Duke of Yuwen Tianlu Anguo, and took away the title of Yuwen Shuang Ningling County Lord, the situation in the DPRK and China was shocked, Yuwen and the party knew the times and quickly changed the court, and the rest of the people were either liquidated or deposed, and the entire force collapsed in an instant. The laughing hall he established single-handedly was listed as a rebel organization by the imperial court, and was attacked by various major factions on the rivers and lakes, and its business was gradually taken over by them. A large net built by Yuwen Tianlu in the past twenty years was shattered in an instant.

Yuwen Shuang was originally working in Hulukou, but after Yuwen Tianlu was accused of rebellion, she disappeared. No one knew where Yu Wenshuang had gone, as if she had disappeared out of thin air.

On this day, Xiao Jinyan came to a wine shop.

The wine shop is not big, there are only a dozen seats, a few tables, the guests who entertain are mostly merchants who come and go to rest temporarily, most people come, they also pour a pot of wine, ask for a few flatbreads, and continue to hurry, this kind of wine shop is very common in Hulukou.

The liquor store is a mom-and-pop shop, the owner is in his fifties, dark-skinned, ordinary farming, and takes care of the liquor business in his spare time, due to the war, their business is not very good, and when Xiao Jinyan came in, it was empty.

After running around for several days, Xiao Jinyan was a little haggard, and he didn't have time to repair his beard, so he ordered a pot of wine, and drank it tastelessly, so he asked the old man if he had seen Yuwenshuang. "Beijing accent, like to wear white, looks very handsome. ”

The old man said: "I've seen it, but it was half a month ago." This girl often comes to my place to eat wontons. ”

When Xiao Jinyan heard this, he suddenly came to his senses, grabbed the old man's hands, and asked, "You didn't admit your mistake?"

The old man sighed, Xiao Jinyan realized the faux pas, and even let go of his hand to apologize. The old man rubbed his wrist and said, "Old man, I have lived here for 20 years, and I have read countless people, but I have never seen such a handsome girl." Such a woman, when I saw it, I remembered it. ”

The old woman who was facing her at the door heard this and coughed deliberately. The old man smiled awkwardly and asked again, "Little brother, I don't know who she is?"

Xiao Jinyan said, "It's my fiancée." ”

The old man suddenly said, "I see." However, the last time I saw her, she asked for a pot of wine, and she got drunk, crying and laughing. It seems that some of her dearest relatives are gone. ”

Xiao Jinyan knew that she had gotten the news of Yuwen Tianlu, but she only hated herself for coming too slowly, and she was still a step late after all, "Uncle, did she say where she was going?"

The old man said, "I saw her drunk that day, and said, the great Central Plains, there is no place for me, this Daming, don't stay." I also persuaded her to open a little, and she gave me a large piece of silver, and when she left, she asked me how it would be more convenient to go to Xichu. ”

Xiao Jinyan pondered, could it be that Yuwenshuang went to Xichu?

Because of Yuwen Tianlu's matter, she has been wanted by the imperial court with a reward, but doesn't Daming have no place for her?

He promised Yuwen Tianlu that he could not tell her the news that he was alive, but he also promised to protect Yuwen Shuang's safety. With her martial arts, there will be no problem when she meets ordinary people in the rivers and lakes, but once her identity is revealed, not only in Daming, but even in Xichu, many people are not good for her, thinking of this, he secretly decided that no matter what, he would find her. What's more, he also promised Li Chuntie that he would go to Xichu and persuade

Said that Xiao Farewell withdrew his troops. It seems that no matter what, I have to go to Xichu.

He asked, "Uncle, I don't know how to go to Xichu here, how can it be more convenient?"

The old man said embarrassedly, "I haven't been there either." However, I heard that after crossing Hengduan Mountain, it is Liuli Lake, and after crossing the Lingding Sea, you will arrive at Xijing of Chu State. If you ride a horse, you can reach it in half a month as fast as it is fast and more than a month when it is slow. ”

Xiao Jinyan said that since he knew the whereabouts of Yuwenshuang, without further ado, he poured another pot of wine, asked for ten zhang flatbread, and left the only piece of broken silver left, got up to say goodbye, and rode Lu Gongzi out of the gourd.

After Xiao Jinyan walked away, after rolling the curtains, a pretty woman wearing a sackcloth and a wooden hairpin on her head slowly walked out, saluted the old man, and said, "Thank you Uncle Li for covering up for me." ”

The Li Bo looked at the woman, sighed, and said, "I see that the young man is also sincere, and he is very concerned about you between words, I wonder why you want to avoid him?"

The woman's face was a little pale, her clothes were rough, but she still couldn't hide her peerless appearance, she looked at the direction of Xiao Jinyan's departure, and said quietly, "He used to be the man I liked, and I also came to look for him despite my father's opposition." It's a pity that his master has a vendetta with my family, and if I show up, it will not be a good thing for me or him. ”

When Li Bo heard this, he muttered, "The world's view and the overstepping of the door make it difficult for a lover to become a family after all." ”

When the proprietress Aunt Li heard this, she coughed again and said, "You can't speak with this mouth, so say less." She comforted the woman and said, "Girl, whether it is a sect or a secular prejudice, these are nothing, as long as you like it, then do it." Don't do things that you'll regret when you're old. ”

Aunt Li pointed to Uncle Li, who was cleaning up the dishes and chopsticks at the door, and said, "Look at the old man, my father was also strongly opposed to my relationship with him, and when I married him, I encountered no fewer difficulties than you." ”

The woman asked, "And how did you get together?"

Li Bo smiled, "It's thanks to their dog." ”

"Dogs?"

"Yes, she has a big yellow dog, and when she meets someone at night, she barks at night, I take the sweat medicine at night, stun it, and then secretly crawl into her room to have a tryst with her, haha!"

Aunt Li scolded, "For the old disrespectful things, is it embarrassing to talk to the girl's family about this?"

Li Bo held his head high and said, "That's one of the few things that Lao Li and I am proud of in my life, what kind of father and mother oppose it, the difference between the family, and wait for the raw rice to cook and mature, it's not a problem!"

Aunt Li'er's face was slightly red, "Phew, you still have the face to say." You fled the village with me overnight, and I didn't dare to go home for more than two years. ”

"So what? Your father kept saying that he was going to kill me, and when you came home with Bao'er, he was not so happy that he couldn't even speak?

Aunt Li said, "You're embarrassed to say, didn't you boast to my father that you want to give birth to a litter?"

Li Bo sighed, "I'm old, and I don't have enough firepower." ”

The woman looked at the old husband and wife arguing, and felt a burst of warmth in her heart, thinking, how good it would be if I could do the same with him?

She walked out of the door and looked into the distance, Xiao Jinyan had already disappeared.

Aunt Li said, "Why are you still stunned, the happiness you have identified, chase it." ”